Bluebirds Over the Mountain by The Beach Boys

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 25 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Bridge → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Key changes

• Verse 3 moves to B♭ major.

Section by section

Intro

• A – E
  I – V

Chorus 1

• A – D – E (×2)
  I – IV – V

Transition 1

• A – E
  I – V

Verse 1

• D – G7 – A7 (×3)
  IV – bVII7 – I7
• B7sus4 – Bm7 – B7 – Em
  II7sus4 – ii7 – II7 – v

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

• A7
  I7

Bridge

• A7 – F7
  I7 – bVI7

Verse 3

• E♭ – A♭7 – B♭7 – E♭ – B♭7
  IV – bVII7 – I7 – IV – I7
• A♭7 – E♭ (×2)
  bVII7 – IV
• D7 – Gsus4 – Gmaj7 – A7sus4 – Am7 – A7 – Fm7
  III7 – VIsus4 – VImaj7 – VII7sus4 – vii7 – VII7 – v7

Chorus 4

• B♭ – E♭ – F (×2)
  I – IV – V

Transition 4

• B♭ – E♭ – F
  I – IV – V

Outro

• E♭9sus4 – B♭6 – E♭m6/B♭ – E♭m/B♭ – B♭
  IV9sus4 – I6 – iv6 (bass B♭) – iv⁶₄ – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Em (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• A♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Fm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• E♭9sus4 (IV9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• E♭m6/B♭ (iv6 (bass B♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• E♭m/B♭ (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D.
• B♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to E♭.
• D7 acts as V/VI: it resolves to Gsus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0427, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.